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The vehicles have automatic doors on both sides that open to the platform, and are accessible for people with mobility disabilities. The vehicles are designed for 20 passengers, with four seats arranged in a "U" on each end and four stanchions in the center of the vehicle for twelve standees. A yearly event called the PRT Cram takes place in which student organizations try to pack as many individuals as possible inside a modified PRT vehicle. The record of 97 was set in 2000.
The cars are powered by three-phase 575-volt alternating current rectified to drive a direct current motor. Electric pickups are fixed on both sides of each car, which connect to electrified rails on one, or both, sides of the guideway. The wheels of the vehicles steer slightly toward whichever side is powered to ensure that they stay in firm electrical contact with the rails. Each car has four-wheel steering to help negotiate the tight turns in the PRT guideways, especially around stations.
The system connects the university's campuses via five stations (Walnut, Beechurst, Engineering, Towers, Medical) along a route. All stations are on sidings, which allows vehicles to bypass stations.
The guideway consists of concrete pathways with magnetic induction loops that provide car location data. The system's concrete pathways have embedded pipes that circulate a glycol solution, which is heated at stations to help melt snow and ice prevalent in Morgantown's snowy winter climate.
Most of the system (65%) is built on elevated bridges and viaducts, while the remainder is at or below ground level. The viaduct spans are approximately long, and there are two styles of viaduct, with those constructed in Phase I being noticeably heavier-duty than those built in Phase II.
The system is fully automated and can operate in three modes: "demand", "schedule", and "circulation".
In demand mode, which is used during off-peak hours, the system reacts dynamically to rider requests. After pressing the button to call a car, a timer starts. If the timer reaches a predetermined limit, typically 5 minutes, a vehicle is activated to service the request even if no other passengers have requested the same destination. Also, if the number of passengers waiting to travel to the same destination exceeds a predetermined limit, usually 15, a vehicle is immediately activated. In this mode the system operates as a true PRT.
During peak hours, the system switches to schedule mode, which operates the cars on fixed routes of known demand. This lowers the waiting time for a car traveling to a given destination and is more efficient than demand mode. During low-demand periods, the system switches to circulation mode, operating a small number of vehicles that stop at every station, like a bus service. This reduces the number of vehicles traveling on the network.
In the 2006 fiscal year, the system broke down 259 times for a total of 65 hours and 42 minutes, out of a total of 3,640 hours and 15 minutes scheduled running time, which equates to about 98% availability. Of those 259 breakdowns, 159 were caused by vehicle-related problems. In 2007, the system received funding to improve efficiency by reducing this vehicle downtime.
Since the system's completion in 1975, technology for PRTs has advanced considerably, but the control equipment for the Morgantown system changed very little. The control room is said to resemble a NASA mission control room from the 1970s, though the underlying electronics are more modern.
, the system's cost per trip is $2.01, the third least expensive (after New York and Boston) for any fixed guideway system in the United States.
Morgantown PRT operates chiefly as transportation for WVU's students and, as such, runs primarily during class days. During the fall and spring semesters, it operates 6:30 am–10:15 pm weekdays and 9:30 am–5:00 pm on Saturdays. It is normally closed on Sundays. During the summer semester, it operates 6:30 am–6:15 pm weekdays and 9:30 am–5:00 pm on Saturdays, and is closed on Sundays. When major WVU eventsnotably football and men's basketball gamesare scheduled to end outside of normal operating hours, the system will run for at least an hour after the end of the event. The system is closed on holidays and during semester breaks.
When it opened, the PRT was controlled by DEC PDP-11 computers installed in 1971. Due to difficulty in procuring replacement parts, these older computers were replaced in 1997-1998 with Intel Pentium computers.
A 2010 study recommended renewal of the system given declining reliability caused by its age and the lack of access to replacement parts for key components, such as the vehicles and the control system. The report considered replacement of the PRT with buses but concluded they would be unsatisfactory given the extra traffic congestion and poor travel times that would result. By 2015 reliability had fallen to 90%.
In 2012, the university Board of Governors approved $15 million as part of renewal and modernization project. The total cost is projected to be $100–$130 million. The three phase plan is to replace the control and propulsion systems in the current vehicles, installation of a new automatic train control system, upgrade the power supply, repairs to the infrastructure and finally replacement of all the vehicles.
Part of the phase 1 work to upgrade the vehicles' control and propulsion system was completed by early 2014 and resulted in improved operations.
On April 29, 2014, Thales Group was selected by WVU to install its SelTrac Communications-based train control (CBTC) system, as well as new systems for fare collection and passenger information. Upgrades occurred during the summer breaks in 2015 and 2017 while the system is normally closed. Replacement of the train control system will continue during the fall 2017 and spring 2018 semesters in preparation for full-scale testing and commissioning during the summer of 2018.
For the vehicle replacement in phase 2, which has not commenced , the university has said it will look for vehicles that weigh , about one-third the for the current fleet.
The $52.6 million phase II renovation of the PRT is still being completed. Over the winter break of the 2017-2018 academic year, 11 cars were upgraded to the new software. The updated cars have not been used during typical business hours as they are not compatible to the current system. In addition to receiving new software, Phase II also includes replacing electric boards and sensors on the guide ways and signs.
The Jacksonville Skyway is a people mover in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is an automated people mover system operated by the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA). Opening in 1989 with three stations in Downtown Jacksonville, the Skyway was extended in 1996 following a conversion from its original technology to Bombardier Transportation equipment. It was expanded again in 1998 and 2000. The system currently comprises two routes across of track, serving eight stations, and crosses the St. Johns River on the Acosta Bridge. There is currently no fare to ride the Skyway, which had 1.2 million passengers in 2014.
The Skyway runs on an elevated two-way monorail track. The system serves eight stations in Downtown Jacksonville: five in the Downtown Core and LaVilla areas, and three across the St. Johns River on the Southbank. There are two routes running south from Rosa Parks Transit Station and branching at Central station: one going west and terminating at LaVilla station, and the other going south over the river and terminating at Kings Avenue station on the Southbank.
The system has used two car and control systems since its creation. From 1989 to 1996 it had a system designed by Matra using its VAL 256-type rubber-wheeled technology. This ran only on the , three station Phase I-A segment. In 1997, this was replaced by the current system designed by Bombardier Transportation, a version of its UM III monorail technology and 2 VAL cars were sold to O'Hare International Airport Transit System. In the current system, vehicles run on beams wide and deep, fixed on an wide guideway with parapet walls. Each train is automated by Automatic Train Control (ATC), can have two to six cars (although all current trains have two), and travel at up to .
An automated people mover for Downtown Jacksonville was first proposed in 1972 to deal with traffic and parking issues in the urban core. In 1976, the city incorporated the system into its mobility plan, hoping to attract interest from the Urban Mass Transit Administration's Downtown Peoplemover Program. The initial study was undertaken by the Florida Department of Transportation and Jacksonville's planning department, who took the Skyway project to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) in 1977 for further development. Early proposals recommended a comprehensive system over long that would connect into adjacent neighborhoods, but the project's route and scope were greatly reduced over the years to meet budget constraints and UMTA's parameters.
After several stops and starts, UMTA selected Jacksonville as one of seven cities to receive federal funding for the "Automated Skyway Express" in 1985. Two other related projects are Miami's Metromover and Detroit's People Mover. UMTA's approved plan called for the construction of a Phase I system to be built in three segments; the agency awarded JTA $23.5 million for the initial Phase I-A segment.
The system was shut down on December 15, 1996 to replace the former Matra technology with Bombardier equipment; the older cars were sold to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The northbound extension was completed, adding the Hemming Plaza and Rosa Parks Transit Station stops, and the Skyway reopened on December 15, 1997, with service from the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center to FCCJ. The southern segment opened on October 30, 1998, adding service to San Marco Station on Jacksonville's Southbank. On November 1, 2000, the Riverplace and Kings Avenue Stations opened, completing the Southbank segment and Phase I of the Skyway.
Ridership on the Skyway has been far below initial projections; while JTA originally anticipated 100,000 riders monthly, it averaged less than a third of that by 2009. The primary reasons are the decline of the downtown workforce and lack of connections to other neighborhoods and modes of transit. The system became a major point of contention in Jacksonville, with critics considering it a "ride to nowhere" and a waste of resources. In 2010, after underperforming for over twenty years, "The Florida Times-Union" called it "a Jacksonville joke for a generation". However, others argued that expansion of the system and downtown revitalization could make it a success.
In February 2012, the Skyway was temporarily made free to ride until a new payment system was installed. Ridership jumped 61%—to 481,000 annually. Ridership in 2013 averaged nearly 4,000 on weekdays (the system is closed on weekends except for special events) and JTA renewed the fare-free policy through the end of 2016. , it continues to be free to ride. In light of this momentum, JTA Director Nat Ford has announced the agency will apply for grants to expand the system with a new station in the fast-growing Brooklyn neighborhood.
In December 2015 the Jacksonville Transit Authority announced plans to review the installation and operation citing problems that "Skyway’s current vehicles are so old the parts can no longer be replaced — four of 10 vehicles are out of commission — and JTA staff said industry experts did not respond favorably to the possibility of overhauling them". The review considered options to refurbish the current rolling stock, buy replacement vehicles, expand the system, tear down the structure or convert it to alternative use such as a walking path. JTA said in January 2017 that they are "trying to keep the Skyway operating for another five years as it determines the future of the system"
As part of the construction of the agency's Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center (JRTC), the Convention Center station closed for a period of time to allow for the dismantling of original station elements (such as the overhead station canopy) and construct the new facility partially over the existing tracks. The existing platform was kept but with modifications made in order to tie everything into the new facility. While the new JRTC opened on May 4, 2020, the Skyway did not commence service to the facility until July of that year due to a temporary pause in Skyway service caused by COVID-19.
On March 3, 2021, JTA announced that it had approved plans to convert a portion of its Skyway maintenance facility property off Leila St in the Brooklyn neighborhood to the planned Brooklyn station, with construction to begin in September, 2021 and completion projected for some time in early 2022.
In December 2016 preference was given for replacement of the present system with "autonomous vehicles" such as personal rapid transit or group rapid transit. In December 2017, JTA launched the U²C AV Test and Learn track which serves as an outdoor classroom to test and evaluate multiple vehicles and their associated technologies from the AV shuttle industry. The goal is transforming and expanding the current Skyway.
JTA revealed more detailed plans on the Ultimate Urban Circulator (U²C) in 2020. They stating that they plan to replace the Skyway's current rolling stock and rails with an autonomous vehicle network that will extend the current system to cover 10 miles of track and road while covering surrounding suburbs such as San Marco, Springfield, and Brooklyn/Riverside (with the future possibility of connecting it with the proposed First Coast Commuter Rail network).
The Jacksonville Skyway has eight stations on two lines: the Northbank (LaVilla) line, and the Southbank (Kings Avenue) line. All trains run through Rosa Parks Transit Station, Hemming Park station, and Central, where they split.
Metromover is a free mass transit automated people mover train system operated by Miami-Dade Transit in Miami, Florida, United States. Metromover serves the Downtown Miami, Brickell, Park West and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods. Metromover connects directly with Metrorail at Government Center and Brickell stations. It also connects to Metrobus with dedicated bus loops at Government Center and Adrienne Arsht Center station. It originally began service to the Downtown/Inner Loop on April 17, 1986, and was later expanded with the Omni and Brickell Loop extensions on May 26, 1994.
The Metromover serves primarily as an alternative way to travel within the greater Downtown Miami neighborhoods. The system is composed of three loops and 21 stations. The stations are located approximately two blocks away from each other, and connect near all major buildings and places in the Downtown area. Together with Metrorail, the system has seen steady ridership growth per annum, with an average combined ridership of 105,500 weekday passengers in 2013.
Out of only three downtown people movers in the United States, the other two being the Jacksonville Skyway and the Detroit People Mover, the Metromover is by far the most successful in terms of ridership, the only completed system of the three, and considered to be a catalyst for downtown development.
There are 21 accessible Metromover stations located throughout Downtown Miami and Brickell roughly every two blocks. The Metromover links all of Downtown and Brickell's major office buildings, residential buildings, hotels, and retail centers. Major attractions such as the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, American Airlines Arena, Arsht Performing Arts Center, the Cultural Plaza (Miami Art Museum, Historical Museum of Southern Florida, Miami Main Library), Bayside Marketplace, Mary Brickell Village, Miami-Dade College, Museum Park (which services Perez Art Museum Miami as well as the Frost Science Museum) and the Brickell Financial District can all be reached by the Metromover.
The Metromover car maintenance base, unusual for a maintenance yard, is a building located downtown, at SW 1st Ave and SW 1st St, which lies between Government Center and 3rd St stations on the outer counterclockwise loop, at the point where the two loops split to run in adjacent parallel streets.
All loops run from 5 am to just after midnight, from Sunday to Thursday. On Friday and Saturday nights, service is extended until 2 am. This schedule is adjusted during events. Trains on the Inner Loop run in tandem and arrive every 90 seconds during rush hours and every three minutes otherwise. Outer Loop trains arrive every 5 to 6 minutes; every 2.5 to 3 minutes where the track is shared.
The cost of building the system was about $153.3 million. The operating budget for the Inner and Outer (Brickell and Omni) loops in FY 2007 was $8,888,794. Ridership total for FY 2007 was 8.7 million. Not including capital costs, this gives an approximate cost of $1.02 per ride. Metromover does not charge for rides; however, a $2.25/1.1 fee is charged if transferring to Metrorail or Metrobus.
The Metromover currently operates 21 stations, all within the Miami city limits.
Metromover mainly uses 29 Bombardier Innovia APM 100 vehicles, the first 12 of which were delivered during the summer and fall of 2008. These newer vehicles replaced the first 12 Adtranz C-100 cars which were built by Westinghouse Electric in 1984, and include a more aerodynamic design, as well as an onboard CCTV system. Deliveries of an additional 17 cars from Bombardier Transportation began in July 2010, and as of early 2014 have largely replaced the second order of 17 Adtranz C-100 vehicles, built by Adtranz predecessor AEG-Westinghouse in 1992.
Sortable chart detailing monthly weekday ridership averages by Calendar Year; right hand chart giving annual averages may use "fiscal year" without disclosure, where the FY begins in October and has 75% of its time in the next year with only 25% in the starting year. Note the large jump in ridership in 2002 when the fare was removed after the passing of the half-penny tax. Yearly averages are rounded to the nearest 500, and the highest month is also in bold. After years of growth, Metromover ridership began falling in 2017, following years of sharp declines in Metrobus and Metrorail ridership.
This table includes Metrorail ridership as the two systems were built together and are mutually reliant on the thousands of daily transfers at Government Center and Brickell stations.
Port of Miami: In May 2011, a study was proposed to analyze the idea of extending the Metromover to the PortMiami. This, with Metrorail and the new MIA Mover would create a direct rail transit link from the airport to the seaport. However, the study, which would take at least a year and cost about $120,000, was only a proposal to be voted on and the idea has not been reported on since 2014.
SMART Plan: The SMART plan unveiled in 2016 includes a light rail or Metromover expansion to South Beach via MacArthur Causeway, and a north extension to the Midtown area, also serving the Wynwood and Edgewater neighborhoods.
The Memphis Suspension Railway or Mud Island Monorail is a suspended monorail that connects the city center of Memphis with the entertainment park on Mud Island. Celebrating its grand opening on July 3, 1982, it is located beneath a footbridge over the Wolf River Lagoon connecting to the southern tip of Mud Island.
The line has two suspended cars constructed in Switzerland, delivered in summer 1981. The bridge opened to pedestrians on June 29, 1981; the monorail was not operational until July 1982. The cars are driven by a external cable, instead of by internal motors. The two cars simultaneously shuttle back and forth on parallel tracks between the Front Street Terminal on the downtown side and the Mud Island Terminal. Each car has a maximum capacity of 180 passengers and travels at .
At the time of its construction, the U.S. Coast Guard stated that the proposed bridge would have to have the same clearance as the Hernando de Soto Bridge, as it was spanning a commercially used public waterway. This resulted in the bridge being constructed at its current elevation.
On June 19, 1994, a 19-year-old female Memphis State University student, Shellie M. McKnight, fell while cleaning the exterior windows of one of the cars and died. The fatal fall was ruled accidental by Memphis Police.
Her family lost the lawsuit they filed against the City of Memphis.
In the 1993 film "The Firm", Mitch McDeere, played by Tom Cruise, uses the railway to escape from "The Firm" that is out to kill him.
The Getty Center Tram is a people mover system that serves the Getty Center in Los Angeles. It runs two cable-driven hovertrains each consisting of three Otis Hovair vehicles.
The tram line, already planned in 1988, was opened at the end of 1997, following the inauguration of the Getty Center.
The line, located north of Brentwood, in the Westside Region of Los Angeles, links a freeway-level parking garage to the Getty Center, which includes the J. Paul Getty Museum. The duration of a ride is about 3 to 4 minutes.
The lower station (), at the bottom of the hill, lies beside Sepulveda Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway and features a refuge siding. The upper station (), at the top of the hill, is located in the arrival plaza of the Getty Center and is part of the structure. The line follows Getty Center Drive and has a passing loop in the middle, although the two trains can operate independently.
The Transit Expressway Revenue Line (TERL), commonly known as Skybus, was a proposed people mover rapid transit system developed by Westinghouse for the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1960s–1970s. In contrast to the traditional streetcars then in use, the technology used a dedicated elevated concrete track and rubber-tired driverless cars. A demonstrator was built and operated in the South Hills area but political opposition killed the deployment of a larger system.
Westinghouse, a Pittsburgh firm, developed the technology during the early 1960s in cooperation with the Port Authority of Allegheny County, a public entity which by 1964 controlled most mass transit in the Pittsburgh area. With support from the state of Pennsylvania and the federal government, Westinghouse and PAT built a demonstration track at the Allegheny County Fairgrounds in South Park. The cars, which could operate separately or be coupled together, were powered by a pair of motors and could travel at a maximum speed of . Each of the four cars was long and could seat 28. Power was provided a 565 volt three-phase AC underrail system.
During the 1960s the Port Authority formulated its so-called "Early Action Program," the purpose of which was to establish a more robust rapid transit system in Pittsburgh. The program called for an Skybus line and two "busways" (bus rapid transit routes), plus rehabilitation of existing equipment. The Skybus route would originate South Hills Village and follow existing streetcar right-of-way through the Mt. Lebanon and Beechview neighborhoods before reaching Downtown Pittsburgh via the unused Wabash Tunnel. The entire project would cost $295 million; Skybus alone was $232 million.
In July 1969 an alternative emerged to the Skybus plan. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) (an unrelated company founded by the same man, George Westinghouse, several years prior to Westinghouse Electric's founding) proposed a $114 million plan for a more conventional steel-wheeled light rail system. The system would originate in the South Hills area as the present streetcar system did and extend through downtown to the East Liberty neighborhood. Driverless operation would be an option, and the system would be fully grade-separated.
The position of the Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA) became crucial: Skybus could not be built without federal support. The Port Authority, city, and state could not agree on an appropriate plan which would serve both the city of Pittsburgh and surrounding Allegheny County. The Port Authority remained committed to Skybus, as did a majority of the County Commission. Mayor Flaherty continued to favor a mix of traditional heavy and light rail, as did Governor Shapp. Ultimately in 1976 a cross-jurisdiction task force recommended light rail instead of Skybus, and the UMTA support was withdrawn.
Once the Allegheny County Fair was done away with in the early 1970s, rides on the Skybus track ceased. In the Spring and Summer of 1980 the county had the track, cars and computer dismantled and bartered for scrap, with the computer building becoming a park police office.
The Skybus tests proved that rubber tire driverless transit could function. Westinghouse Electric would later have a role in the development of the first major fully automated transit system in the country with Miami's Metromover. Westinghouse built the first 12 Adtranz C-100 buses used for the Metromover. Westinghouse would also participate in the development of similar driverless transit systems like the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in California, and automated people movers at several major U.S. airports, including Tampa, Orlando, and Dallas-Ft. Worth.
The Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, formerly known as the WEDway PeopleMover from 1975 until 1994 and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority from 1994 until 2010, is an urban mass transit PeopleMover system attraction in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Designed as an urban mass-transit system of the future, vehicles take passengers on a grand circle tour of the realm of Tomorrowland that provides elevated views of several other attractions. The experience is also the lone remaining attraction in the Magic Kingdom to have corporate sponsorship. ("Happily Ever After", the nighttime pageant at Cinderella Castle, is presented by Pandora, but the event is not classified by Walt Disney World as an "attraction.")
The attraction has a single station, which resides in the center of Rocket Tower Plaza and beneath the Astro Orbiter. Passing the queue, passengers step onto the Speedramp (inclined moving walkway) to the second level. They, then, step onto the moving platform, which matches the speed of the PeopleMover trains, and board before they depart the station.
Leaving the Rocket Tower Plaza Station, the trains make a sharp left turn, followed by a sweeping turn over the plaza. The track then makes a right-hand turn, running along the outside of the northern show building and above the former queue for Stitch's Great Escape! and passing by the Tomorrowland main entrance at Central Plaza. The track enters a tunnel through the northern show building and passes a large diorama containing a portion of the Progress City/"Epcot" model, which originally resided in the upper level of the Carousel of Progress at the New York World's Fair of 1966-1967 and at Disneyland starting in 1967, before encountering a diorama of several robots and crossing the Star Traders shop.
Leaving the northern show building, the T.T.A. crosses the walkway from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland, followed by the Tomorrowland Speedway.
After the Speedway and the entrance to Tron Lightcycle Power Run, the T.T.A. crosses the Walt Disney World Railroad, and pass through a switch leading to the ride's storage and maintenance bays as they makes a right turn to enter Space Mountain.
In the spring of 1994, Tomorrowland underwent a massive refurbishment that changed the theme of the land from being a showcase of future technology to a working city of the future. The WEDway PeopleMover received new physical theming as the track structure along the north and south show buildings as well as Rocket Tower Plaza was updated from smooth Googie-esque white forms to boldly colored metallic structures. The section of track linking the north show building to Space Mountain, and the section from Space Mountain to the Carousel of Progress, which was not changed.
It was during this refurbishment that the attraction's name changed from the Wedway PeopleMover to Tomorrowland Transit Authority. A new narration was added, with the tour led by Pete Renaday broadcasting from TTA Central. The new name and narration debuted on June 12, 1994. This 1994 recording remained largely unaltered until October 2, 2009, which came shortly after the ride had reopened following a five-month down period during the refurbishment of Space Mountain.
The TTA's backstory in the 1994–2009 version of the ride made reference to the Transit Authority's three different "lines": the Blue Line, the Red Line, and the Green Line. The Blue Line, which constitutes the actual ride, was Tomorrowland's intra-city elevated train system. The Red Line took riders 'off-planet' to other destinations in the galaxy, while the Green Line provided local transportation to Tomorrowland's "Hover-Burbs." There was a diorama of a hub station where all three lines intersect located on the second floor of the north show building (Interplanetary Convention Center). Other services provided by the Transit Authority (interstate highway maintenance and long-distance space travel) were alluded to in the ride's narration.
Changes made in the 1994 narration over its 15 years of use included the following:
The Tomorrowland Transit Authority closed on April 19, 2009, in line with a major refurbishment of Space Mountain, and reopened on September 12, 2009. The closure was necessary due to extensive construction work planned for the roller coaster, and the inherent safety risks such activity would pose to Transit Authority riders.
During the refurbishment, the beamway was enhanced with new multicolored LED lighting that moves in time with the music being played in Tomorrowland. Other enhancements included freshly re-painted trackway and infrastructure, as well as new speakers for the ride audio system.
As the TTA reopened while Space Mountain's refurbishment was still underway, a temporary spiel was played inside Space Mountain that went,
On August 5, 2010, it was announced that the name "PeopleMover" would officially be re-instated into the ride's name, effectively changing it to Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. Ride signage was changed around the track to reflect the name change.
On March 12, 2020, it was announced that "Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover" would close for refurbishment, due to COVID-19 outbreak impacts on Florida.
On October 26, 2020, since Walt Disney World reopened, after temporarily closed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Walt Disney World announced that Disney has once again extended the "Tomorrowland PeopleMover" refurbishment. The refurbishment continues to follow along with the theme park hours posted the furthest into the future, in this case April 4th, 2021. On March 31st, 2021, Walt Disney World announced yet another extension to the PeopleMover refurbishment, this time set to reopen May 2021. The ride soft-opened on April 25th, 2021 and officially reopened the next day.
The Las Vegas Monorail is a automated monorail mass transit system located adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip, in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It connects several large casinos in the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester, and does not enter the City of Las Vegas. It was owned and operated by the Las Vegas Monorail Company until their 2020 bankruptcy when it was sold to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. In 2013, total annual ridership was roughly 4.2 million, down from a pre-Great Recession peak of 7.9 million in 2007. The monorail is a registered not-for-profit corporation, allowed under Nevada law since the monorail provides a public service. The State of Nevada assisted in bond financing, but no public money was used in construction.
The Las Vegas Monorail began service as the MGM Grand-Bally's Monorail in 1995. This system ran between the MGM Grand and Bally's hotels using two used Mark IV monorail trains that had operated on the Walt Disney World Monorail. Built through a partnership between the two hotels, the MGM-Bally's system's construction was contracted to VSL Corporation. The grand opening party for the monorail featured showgirls from Bally's famed show, "Jubilee!", helping groups to the monorail. Characters from "The Wizard of Oz" greeted the groups on the MGM side. The two trains each ran back and forth on each beam, and were stored at a maintenance building near the Bally's station (this building still stands today, but it has been severed from the beam).
In 2002, the original system was closed to begin its conversion to the current Las Vegas Monorail system. The beam was extended from Bally's station (now the Bally's & Paris station) north to the Sahara Hotel and Casino. The track was extended south beyond the MGM station to provide for track switching for the trains, as well as a starting point for a potential future southern extension. The original trains were replaced with nine new Bombardier Mark VI monorail trains.
During testing and commissioning, the monorail suffered several malfunctions that delayed the start of passenger service for almost a year. The most serious of these problems related to parts falling from the monorail to the ground under the tracks. After many delays, the finished Las Vegas Monorail opened to the public on July 15, 2004 with the completion and testing of "Phase 1".
On September 8, 2004, more problems with falling parts led to the closing of the monorail for nearly four months. It reopened on December 24, 2004. A number of repairs were made to the monorail cars during this shutdown. Each time the monorail system required major engineering changes, it underwent a lengthy "commissioning" process to confirm the effectiveness and safety of the repairs. Officials reported that each day the monorail was down cost the system approximately $85,000 in lost fares.
Transit Systems Management officials cited the successful handling of crowds during the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show as proof that the system can handle a major convention.
On July 8, 2005, Transit Systems Management announced that it would shut down, turning over its responsibilities to the Las Vegas Monorail Company, the system operator. Curtis Myles, a former deputy general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, became President of the Las Vegas Monorail Company.
On November 1, 2005, the County Commission approved a study into the feasibility of an airport extension.
On January 13, 2010, the Las Vegas Monorail filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing would not affect system operations and will have no impact on the monorail's hours of operation or service to its customers.
On March 11, 2011, the Sahara announced that it would close its doors May 16, 2011. Closure of the Sahara has been cited as one of the significant reasons for ridership dropping in 2012. In 2014, a new hotel casino, the SLS Las Vegas, took over the Sahara, and ridership increased from 2012 levels.
The Las Vegas Monorail again filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and in December a deal was finalized to transfer ownership to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The monorail (Phase 1 of the overall project) begins at the MGM Grand near the south end of The Strip, and runs roughly parallel to the Strip on its eastern side. The monorail passes next to the Convention Center and the Westgate Las Vegas, both with stations, before ending at the Sahara hotel at the north end of the Strip. The ride takes about fifteen minutes to travel its total distance of .
The monorail generally runs behind the eastern Strip side hotels and casinos, a long block away from the Strip. Usually, it requires a walk-through a casino to get to the Strip, emerging upon the Strip in front of the property. This lack of a direct presence on the Strip along with ticket prices has been a factor in the rather slow acceptance of the monorail.
The Las Vegas Monorail was named the Robert N. Broadbent Las Vegas Monorail in honor of Robert N. Broadbent, whom Las Vegas officials credit with gaining the support from the public and officials needed to bring the monorail to fruition. Broadbent, a former Boulder City mayor, Clark County commissioner, assistant secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, and McCarran International Airport director, died in 2003, a few months before the system's scheduled opening. The Las Vegas Monorail Company is the company's official corporate name.
The Las Vegas Monorail generates revenue from ticketed passengers and from corporate sponsors. Branding rights for the seven stations and the nine trains are available, and the sponsorship prices are in the millions of dollars. Hansens Beverage sponsored the first monorail train, featuring its Monster Energy drink. Nextel Communications created a totally themed pavilion by branding the largest station, adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Since the Sprint-Nextel merger in late 2005, Nextel Central has been rebranded as Sprint Central. However, in late February 2008, the Sprint Nextel Corporation terminated its sponsorship contract.
The Las Vegas Monorail was designed by Gensler of Nevada, engineered by Las Vegas-based Carter & Burgess (now Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.) and constructed by Granite Construction, Inc. of Watsonville, California, one of the largest civil contractors in the United States.
The Las Vegas Monorail vehicles and signal systems were developed by Bombardier Transportation. The technology for the monorail vehicles came directly from the well-tested monorail systems running in Walt Disney World. Bombardier constructed Mark VI Monorail trains for the Walt Disney World Monorail System and for Las Vegas.
A one ride ticket costs $5. These, alongside unlimited ride tickets good for one and three days can be purchased with cash or major credit cards at ticket booths and machines. QR-coded tickets may be purchased online and scanned at the gates, and these offer 1-, 5- and 7-day unlimited fares. Nevada residents may purchase one ride fares for $1 or a 20-ride ticket for $20. There are no child fares, although passengers aged 5 and under ride free.
Phase 2, a long extension along Main Street to Downtown Las Vegas was planned, with new stations at the Stratosphere Hotel, Charleston Boulevard, Bonneville Avenue and Main Street Station. Construction was planned to begin in 2005 with service starting in 2008. However, the anticipated funding from the federal government was not allocated in 2004, so the plans were put on hold. On January 27, 2005, the federal government announced that it would not provide money for the $400-million project.
The plan was to open the system in January 2004, and for it to cover its debts and operating expenses by attracting 19 to 20 million riders. Since the system was not only delayed in opening, but later shut down for four months, income was not as great as organizers had hoped. This reportedly is a contributing factor for the government's denial of Phase 2 funding.
Phase 2 was revised to instead extend the monorail system south from the MGM Grand Station to McCarran International Airport. Providing monorail service to the airport has been an unpopular idea with limousine and taxicab operators in the city, as trips to and from the airport form a major portion of their business. Several hotel and casino owners on the Strip continue to support the project, and are more supportive of an extension to the airport than one to downtown Las Vegas.
On December 7, 2006, Clark County commissioners granted permission for the proposed extension to McCarran Airport. Funding had not yet been identified.